Citigroup is offering the fee simple interest for a Long Island City Island development site just north of One Court Square that offers nearly 780,000 buildable square feet, The Real Deal has learned. The site could fetch north of $140 million, or roughly $180 per square foot, based on area land prices, according to sources familiar with the listing.

The 36,000-square-foot site spans half a city block, directly to the west of the CUNY School of Law at 2 Court Square, where Citigroup owns and occupies office space. The territory is bound by 44th Road, 44th Drive and 23rd Street, according to documents obtained by TRD. Several small unoccupied buildings currently occupy the site.

The C5-3 zoning is flexible and allows for residential, office, retail and hotel use

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

Citigroup sold One Court Square in Long Island City, above, in 2005. The area has been inundated with residential development.

By CHARLES V. BAGLI
FEB. 23, 2015

Quote:

In 1989, Citigroup, the financial services giant, erected New York City’s tallest tower outside Manhattan in Queens, where city officials hoped to establish a new commercial district.

A few years later, the bank, once the largest in the world, put up a second, smaller building next door. But the office district in the Long Island City neighborhood never quite caught on.

Now, Citigroup is selling an adjacent development site that will most likely house an apartment complex in what has become one of the city’s hottest residential neighborhoods.

The bank could receive as much as $150 million for the site, nearly one acre bound by 44th Road, 23rd Street and 44th Drive in Court Square, according to real estate brokers.

Construction cranes rise on seemingly every corner in the neighborhood as developers rush to meet the demand for housing. Housing construction is also a priority for Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose administration plans to rezone Long Island City to spur additional construction.

The neighborhood, which is well served by public transportation, has become an appealing place to live because of its proximity to Manhattan.

Edward Skyler, a spokesman for Citigroup, said, “Given the direction of our real estate footprint and the city’s need for housing, we believe that this site has great potential that can be unlocked.”

In an email to employees about the sale, Citibank said: “We recognize that the creation of housing is important to the city of New York and we will certainly be taking the city’s priorities into account during the process.”

The bank hired Jones Lang LaSalle, a broker, to sell the property. Under the current zoning for the site, a developer could build a 40-story tower with hotel, retail, apartment or office space.

But if the property sale marks a shift in the neighborhood from commercial to residential development, it also is another sign of Citigroup’s diminishing presence in the city.

Citigroup had originally planned to build a third office building on the property. But the bank, like other financial institutions, was battered during the recession. Since then, it has sold over 60 businesses, including hedge funds, private equity funds and insurance companies.

The bank has also come under scrutiny from regulators and federal prosecutors for its role in the residential mortgage crisis. And in November, Citigroup and five other banks agreed to pay a combined $4.25 billion to settle with regulators in the United States and Britain. The Justice Department is pressuring Citigroup and other banks to plead guilty to criminal charges related to the manipulating of the prices of foreign currencies.

Since 2007, Citigroup’s worldwide payroll has fallen to 240,000 employees, from 375,000. In New York City, the bank now has about 17,000 employees, down from 29,000 seven years ago.

It has also sought to pare its real estate costs. The bank is moving its headquarters from Park Avenue in Midtown to Greenwich Street in Lower Manhattan.

But in the 1980s, Citigroup, then known as Citicorp, was in a more expansive mode. City officials had hoped that the bank’s decision to build a 50-story tower in Long Island City, fueled by a substantial subsidy package, would be the first step in creating a lower-cost commercial district that would attract Manhattan tenants considering a move to New Jersey.

At the time, Mayor Edward I. Koch invoked an “other boroughs” strategy, using tax abatements, low-cost electricity and other incentives to lure companies to Queens.

The green-glass Citigroup tower, now called One Court Square, opened in 1989, drawing thousands of bank workers to a quiet neighborhood that was a short subway ride from Manhattan.

The bank went through a round of layoffs during the recession in the early 1990s and moved thousands of employees to buildings in Jersey City. Years later, Citigroup moved 700 more employees to Jersey City from Lower Manhattan.

In 2007, Citigroup built a second, 15-story building, Two Court Square, as part of its original agreement with the city. It was supposed to be the first phase of a 1.5-million-square-foot development.

Instead, the bank sold six floors of Two Court Square in 2010 to the City University of New York School of Law. Citigroup sold One Court Square for $470 million in 2005, but continued to lease the building, where there are about 4,800 employees.

Citigroup also plans to sell its remaining stake in Two Court Square. As for the 50-story tower, Citigroup told employees on Monday that its lease at One Court Square runs “into 2020, and we expect to continue to have employees there through at least that time.”

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

TOWERING OVER QUEENS: CENTRAL LONG ISLAND CITY SITE TO MAKE WAY FOR ANOTHER HIGH RISE

MARCH 6, 2015

Quote:

Yet another tower could rise in Long Island City, Queens. Citigroup is expected to sell a prime development site next to its SOM-designed, 51-story turquoise office tower that dominates the neighborhood’s skyline.

The New York Times reported that when Citi built the structure in 1989, the city expected Long Island City to blossom into a major commercial hub. That hope did not pan out. But the neighborhood has seen a boom in residential development in recent years and now Citi wants to take advantage of it. The bank will reportedly sell the development site for $150 million, likely giving way to an apartment or hotel high-rise.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

Citigroup sells LIC site to Queens developer for $143MParcels north of One Court Square offer 780K buildable square feet

July 08, 2015
Claire Moses

Quote:

Citigroup sold a huge Long Island City development site just north of One Court Square to Flushing-based developer Jia Shu Xu of C&G Empire Realty for $143 million, according to property records filed with the city Wednesday.

The property is made up of nine parcels — located just north of Court Square along 23rd Street between 44th Drive and 44th Road — each spanning 36,000 square feet, city records show. The site holds roughly 780,000 buildable square feet. Most of the parcels are vacant, some have industrial buildings. The zoning allows for residential, office, retail and hotel space.

Xu could not immediately be reached for comment. A JLL team led by Jon Caplan and Richard Baxter marketed the site, as previously reported by The Real Deal. Caplan and Baxter couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Xu is planning four projects in Queens. In December 2014, he filed for a a 14-story, mixed-use building that will replace a warehouse at 134-03 35th Avenue in Flushing.

In March, Xu filed plans for a 197-unit mixed use project at 88-08 Justice Avenue in Elmhurst. He’s also planning projects at 136-21 Latimer Place in Flushing and 140-35 Queens Boulevard in Jamaica.

Citigroup sold a huge Long Island City development site just north of One Court Square to Flushing-based developer Jia Shu Xu of C&G Empire Realty for $143 million, according to property records filed with the city Wednesday. The property is made up of nine parcels — located just north of Court Square along 23rd Street between 44th Drive and 44th Road — each spanning 36,000 square feet, city records show. The site holds roughly 780,000 buildable square feet. Most of the parcels are vacant, some have industrial buildings. The zoning allows for residential, office, retail and hotel space. Xu could not immediately be reached for comment. A JLL team led by Jon Caplan and Richard Baxter marketed the site, as previously reported by The Real Deal. Caplan and Baxter couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Xu is planning four projects in Queens. In December 2014, he filed for a a 14-story, mixed-use building that will replace a warehouse at 134-03 35th Avenue in Flushing. In March, Xu filed plans for a 197-unit mixed use project at 88-08 Justice Avenue in Elmhurst. He’s also planning projects at 136-21 Latimer Place in Flushing and 140-35 Queens Boulevard in Jamaica.

Developer Chris Xu is working on huge, mixed-use projects in Flushing, Elmhurst and Jamaica, and now he’s filed plans for a 79-story residential tower at 23-15 44th Drive in Long Island City.

Dubbed Court Square City View Tower, the 963-foot-tall building would be one of the tallest in the neighborhood, where dozens of glassy high rises pop up every few months. It will be 300 feet taller than CitiGroup’s iconic One Court Square, which sits just across the street and tops out at 658 feet and 50 stories. New building applications filed Saturday reveal that the project will have 774 apartments across 759,412 square feet of residential space.

Its a good day today. Now we just have to see which boroughs tallest will win the race. Brooklyn or Queens.

With the JDS tower, and this, Manhattan is no longer the lone skyscraper paradise. Which is the trend I like to see. More skyscrapers in the outer boroughs. (Including JC, because JC is the Taiwan of NYC). It really belongs to NYC.

More skyscrapers in the outer boroughs. (Including JC, because JC is the Taiwan of NYC). It really belongs to NYC.

Well, the entire metro-area is for that matter, including the "far flung" places like White Plains. But yeah, there was a time, not really long ago, when a 900 ft tower brought a lot of excitement even in Manhattan. Queens, Brooklyn, and even JC are seeing stunning rises - both at what's being built, and also the speed of development.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

It's crazy that BK Queens and JC all have a 900+ ft tower(s) in development. The rivers will feel like canyons. And the area will feel like a city from fiction, like Gotham or Metropolis, with never ending skylines. Lower Manhattan, Midtown, Hudson Yards, Downtown Brooklyn, Jersey City, Long Island City. The islands, and rivers, and bridges, and towers will really create an amazing sight.

It's crazy that BK Queens and JC all have a 900+ ft tower(s) in development. The rivers will feel like canyons. And the area will feel like a city from fiction, like Gotham or Metropolis, with never ending skylines. Lower Manhattan, Midtown, Hudson Yards, Downtown Brooklyn, Jersey City, Long Island City. The islands, and rivers, and bridges, and towers will really create an amazing sight.

Somebody a while back mentioned NYC and its proxies becoming a polarized Shenzhen and I'm starting to believe it ( terms of the skyline being fragmented due to all of the little skyscraper hubs popping up). I forget who mentioned it, but with super talls and near 300m towers in the pipeline all over, Manhattan is no longer the sole concentration of skyscrapers.

Now we just have to get Newark in the game. With JC, once the area around Journal Square fully develops, it itself will be a mini LIC. I kinda view LIC as an extension of Midtown East. The march Eastward continues!

In terms of canyons along the river, the Bronx and portions of upper Queens bordering the East river are going to transform. Lots of large scale developments in the works. Mostly in the 300-400 foot range, encompassing numerous towers, but its still way better than the empty lots that they will replace.